Joseph, go see what your dad is doing, his dinner is going to be cold.

I absentmindedly agreed, and continued to observe the plants that had been collected this afternoon.

It's so charming, the outline of the blade is streamlined, like a fish, and the edges are full of serrations.

I call it Tebako, a beautiful name.

Joseph –

Okay, okay, I'm going to find him!

I suspect that Dad was busy in his fields, tasting the stems and leaves of all kinds of plants, and Mom often reminded him that it was risky to do so—and he often writhed on the ground with stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and making a mess of the house.

I didn't like him, even though he was my father.

I jumped out of the window of my room and walked down the valley to the bottom of the ridge, and I saw my father's head and neck bent in a beautiful arc, and he looked down and bit on a bunch of leaves, chewing on them with affection.

Dad, Mommy told you to go back to dinner.

Dinner? Uh, I'm full......

He burped, and the smell of rancid acid permeated the air.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

What is this? Dad stared curiously at my baby, sniffing around with his thick nostrils from time to time. It seems to have a special fragrance, and I don't know what it tastes like......

Don't touch it, that's what I found with great difficulty!

Just a leaf, my dear son.

No, no!

Catherine's dad is sick, and tomorrow I'm going to visit him, and you can come with me.

Catherine, my goddess! Her slender neck and gentle eyes ......

Well, just a leaf, if it dies, I will never forgive you in my life!

Dad carefully took a slice with his wand-like teeth and chewed it carefully.

Well, it's hard to eat on the bite......

If it's unpalatable, spit it out. I'm glad that at least dad won't try a second piece.

Dad was reluctant to waste it and forced himself to swallow it.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

In the middle of the night, Dad began to roll on the floor again, vomiting and diarrhea. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Catherine, my goddess, I will see you tomorrow......

I was woken up by a loud chewing sound, it was Daddy, who pulled my baby out whole, stuffed the leaves into his mouth, chewed and spat flying, and got disgusting residue all over my feet and walls.

Daddy, what have you done! I screamed.

Dad spit the chewed leaves on the ground, full of energy. Son, tell me, where did you find this plant?

You want to destroy them all? No, no!

They have a very special taste, as long as you chew them and spit them out, you will be fine if you don't swallow them. Do you want to try it, it tastes really special!

No! Tears welled up in my eyes.

Dad shoved the last leaf into his mouth, a look of intoxication on his face.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

We walked along the valley towards Catherine's house.

The Cretaceous sky was dazzlingly blue, and the curling clouds quietly changed shape. I hated my weakness and forgave my father.

Catherine's father didn't live long, and he accidentally ate a highly poisonous bark. Like me, he is an avid vegetarian enthusiast. Dad's voice was a little sad.

You'll be like that sooner or later!

Neither you nor your mom can comprehend how amazing it is to try all sorts of different plants, like looking for pearls in the sand.

Before you find the pearl, the sand will clog your stomach and kill you. Dad, I don't want to be an orphan.

Dad looked at me in amazement, and after a long time, he said, I think I've found the pearl I'm looking for.

You mean, I won't do those risky attempts in the future? I got excited.

Yes, I'm going to pull out all the plants in the field and plant only the ones you brought home yesterday.

You mean Tebako?

I was stunned that if Dad could get rid of his bad habits, I could take him to find that rare plant. At least chewing the leaves will kill him.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

We saw Catherine's father for the last time, his face was so dark that he couldn't speak.

Catherine cried into a tearful person, pitiful, and heartbroken.

He pointed to his daughter, and then to his father. My heart was pounding.

Dad brought Catherine home to stay with us.

On the way back, we went around to the end of the valley, where in the dried mud there was a cluster of wild tebako.

Dad solemnly dug up a few trees and planned to plant them in his field.

What made him change his mind? I wondered, do those leaves really have magical powers?

I plucked a small piece and stuffed it into my mouth, soaked it with saliva, and chewed it a few times, the bitter taste spread quickly, and I hurriedly spit it out.

Daddy must be crazy! But my mom and I will love his madness.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

I felt restless, lying in bed tossing and turning, and couldn't sleep.

It's not because Catherine is next door to me, it's not because I miss her, I don't know what my heart desires, it's not about hormones.

There is no taste in the mouth. I suddenly remembered the bitter leaves of Tebako, and perhaps they would calm me down.

I jumped out of the window of my room and followed the valley to the bottom of the ridge, where the moonlight illuminated the empty land, and where my father was, facing Tebako, trying to control his desires.

Daddy, I want a leaf.

No way.

Just a small piece.

No way.

Since when did we exchange positions with each other?

Instead of pleading with him any more, I stepped on the silver moonlight and tirelessly hurried to the end of the valley, where there were still a few wild tebakom trees.

I plucked a few leaves and couldn't wait to stuff them into my mouth, and when the bitter taste filled my mouth, every pore in my body spread. I felt like I saw heaven!

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

I couldn't control myself, and the tebako was quickly finished.

Dad was on his land day and night, his eyes bloodshot, and if anyone tried to get close to those tebako, he would not hesitate to pounce on him and tear him to shreds.

Even if that person is his son.

Catherine noticed my strangeness, and she said sadly, "Joseph, you have changed, and you have completely changed since you tasted the leaves of Tebako.

No, I'm still Joseph, and I love you as much as I ever did!

I don't mean that. You've been poisoned, you've been poisoned by those Tebako!

There is no such thing, Tebako is not poisonous!

You go out very early, look for wild tebako in the river valley, and often don't come back for days and nights. I'm worried. Joseph, forget Tebako, you still have me!

I...... I......

I am saddened that since when have I neglected my Goddess, the gentle and beautiful Catherine!

I wrapped my head around her neck and tails gently patted her back.

Catherine, let's get married!

Wait another year, I'm not mature yet. Catherine bowed her head shyly.

With Catherine by my side, I gradually forgot the taste of Tebako.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Tebako had a bumper harvest, but Dad was too thin.

Mom couldn't stand his repeated persuasion and tried to chew a bitter leaf. It was only one night from rejection to acceptance, and the next day, she sided with her father.

Tebako took their feelings to a new level.

By chance, while cooking, my mother accidentally lit the leaves of Tebako, and the fragrant smoke came out, and she took a deep breath and inhaled all the smoke into her lungs, which was a hundred times stronger than the feeling of chewing.

That's how my mother discovered a new use for Tebako.

She dried the leaves, crumpled them and kept them, spread them flat on an iron plate when she used them, and used the reed stalks to smoke the smoke while lighting them.

Dad gave Tebako a new name, Tobacco.

While Mom and Dad were smoking, Catherine and I passed by, and the smoke got into our nostrils, and soon we joined them.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Smoking became a fad and spread at an alarming rate.

Dad was in charge of the planting, Mom was in charge of the processing, and they worked tirelessly to improve the varieties and promote the tobacco, first confined to our sauropod family, then radiated to all the herbivorous dinosaurs, and finally even the Tyrannosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex began to invite them to pass on their experience.

They rarely returned, and it was only me and Catherine left at home.

We often had our fill of tobacco and lay in the sun in the valley.

However, the sky has been a little strange lately, with blue skies and white clouds dyed with a gray color, and the sun is not as hot as it used to be.

Joseph, I want to have a child. Catherine said shyly, her mouth spewing a rancid smell that I didn't find unpleasant at all.

I want to, too, but you can't get pregnant.

The Lilian sisters, who live in the upper reaches of the valley, are also unable to conceive, and they are in a hurry, but they can't find the reason.

I've heard that Mr. and Mrs. Stone are like that.

You mean the pair of young tyrannosaurs, thank goodness, it's better that they never have children!

……

Catherine didn't say any more, but I always felt a little uneasy.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Mom's body was found by Sister Lillian.

We received a message and rushed to the upper valley to see her one last time.

From the wounds, it was determined that the mother was killed by a tyrannosaurus. Except for her long neck and tail, the rest of her body was mutilated, and under the bloody bones, her lungs were pitch black, like the bottom of a pot at home.

I haven't been able to find your father, I hope he is safe...... Joseph, we are all sad.

This is the fate of our sauropods. I said bitterly.

Catherine and I worked together to bury my mother's body on the spot. Sister Lillian sprinkled a handful of tobacco in front of the grave, which was her favorite.

Mom's dark lungs were shaking before my eyes, why did it become like that? I couldn't help but look at my chest and feel something strange.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Three days later, Dad returned home.

His mother's death hit him hard, he didn't eat or sleep, he smoked blindly, and Catherine and I tried to persuade him to no avail.

He was skinny and skinny, coughing incessantly, spitting out yellow-green thick phlegm and bloodshots, and phlegm flowers bloomed on the ground and walls.

I realized that he was not far from death.

At the end of his life, my father's consciousness suddenly became sober, and he grabbed my hand and said, Joseph, it was those tobaccos that hurt us, you and Catherine can't smoke anymore!

It's too late, and as long as we don't smoke for a day, we are restless, crawling like thousands of ants crawling in our veins, rolling on the ground with tears and snot, twisting our spines into all sorts of impossible shapes.

We are slaves to tobacco!

After my dad died, I cut open his chest with trembling hands to find the lungs. His lungs were as dark as his mother's.

I'm sure Catherine and I are too.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

We didn't have children, neither did Sister Lillian and Mr. and Mrs. Stone, none of the dinosaurs had children.

Tebako, this beautiful name is synonymous with the devil, but we can't quit it.

The Cretaceous sky was gray, and the smoke we breathed filled the wilderness.

We are the last generation of living dinosaurs.

That's how we became extinct!